Comments on: Deveron goes on the charm offensive

By: mrs vm milne.

mrs vm milne. — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 16:14:26 +0000

my worry is number1 what is happening to our town centre so much talk of spreading our town this way and that and our town centre needs so much attentsionand number 2 is the word affordable housing so many people i no cant afford a house,my son is included in this he can not even afford a one bedroom flat in town the affordability is very serious and must be carefully concidered in any development.I believe when applying for a house now you have to make a choice of three locations this to me is a big problem as many people only want to stay in nairn and my last point i would like to make is it looks like people will be coming into deveron homes from all over and i just wonder do we really need all these houses when it puts so much pressure on roads doctors sewage works etc

By: william fraser milne

william fraser milne — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 11:33:58 +0000

yes the folk of the town should have a say in what happens at sandown. we have too think about this all too often its talked about but nothing done. i was born and bred in nairn so have seen it change over the years. some times not for the better.
billy

By: Des

Des — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 08:01:08 +0000

@ Nairnbairn

Le peuple, c’est nous!
Les médias, c’est nous aussi!

By: Brian Turner

Brian Turner — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 22:36:53 +0000

Absolutely right, and hopefully the recent momentum of the river and suburban council will be helpful in creating a single stronger voice – it does seem that in council matters Inverness has done a “divide and conquer” on Nairn.

However, if Deveron Homes wishes to push on a highly revised application that goes against the Local Plan, then this can work to our advantage – if it’s going to get automatically bounced to the Scottish Government, then we can create a lot of noise about this.

Highland Councillors may act with disdain regarding their electorate, but MPs + MSPs tend to be much more sensitive to political pressures, especially if this can be turned into a party political embarrassment for someone.

Deveron should take clear warning that if they will not revise their plans, then very real public pressure can be put on the entire future of the development.

The last thing Deveron should do at this time is underestimate the groundswell of aggrieved public opinion in Nairn regarding developments in general, and if Deveron wishes to test this, it could prove very damaging to their business interests indeed.

By: Samantha Bacon

Samantha Bacon — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 22:12:51 +0000

Thanks for your comments Brian and I totally agree with what you say about a two-nucleus town. The Sandown community have, for the last three years at least, been trying to tell our elected councillors and the Planning Department of our concerns regarding All proposed developments in general and Sandown in particular. One of the big issues has been the lack of infrastucture to support the Lochloy, Deveron, Cawdor, Whiteness, Tornagrain proposals spillage onto the A96 and the subsequent mayhem this would cause on our roads. No-one has done anything about collaboration between Cawdor and Deveron with regards to access and traffic problems, the two individual Community/Leisure/Heritage cenres, retail areas, linked cycle paths, water and waste problems, etc. (why cannot Cawdor and Deveron collaborate on access from the A96) All these concerns and more have been expressed at various S.C.C. meetings. One other big issue arising out of the Deveron Homes proposals is their blatent disregard to the local plan which originally stated 140 houses on the Sandown site and which mysteriously grew to 550 without once councillor speaking out against this. I have written several times to The Planning Dept outlining my concerns but the Nairn Elected Representatives, having put themselves in hock to pay for the new Community Centre, can only follow a path which allows them to repay the loan to the Highland Council which in turn, means supporting Deveron’s application. Joined up thinking vis a vis town planning does not seem within the grasp of this council or the Planning Dept. They are selling their souls and the future of this lovely, highland town for the jingle of ready cash from Developers. Given the poverty of ambition shown by this council for adopting long term, cohesive and well thought out plans for this town which would enhance living conditions, improve the environment,provide better social facilities, proper transport links and establish housing that is attractive, sustainable, and in keeping with the local architecure, plus the necessary infrastructure to support the above,- all of which would ultimately add to the attractiveness of Nairn,- and add to that the steadily strengthening grip of Highland Council on our elected members for Nairn, I feel, along with others, that a more cohesive approach by the Nairn Community is needed to better establish the determined views of the people in Nairn and make those views known to our elected representatives because they are certainly not listening as well as they should.

By: Brian Turner

Brian Turner — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 21:37:15 +0000

It’s okay Samantha – I think a business park on the west of Nairn is a good idea to in terms of transport links (not least to the airport), especially if it caters more for SME’s such as mine which are IT dependent – rather than the manufacturing industry which Balmakeith seems more focused on.

Hopefully I’ve raised reservations about any new retail in the Sandown development not least because it creates a two-nucleus town, which seems dangerous.

However, there needs to be more consideration to transport if retail is going to be focused on the High Street and Balamkeith – Sandown as a suburb rather than “new village” – not least because of the extensive pressures a few hundred new houses is going to put on the existing A96 bottleneck, and limited town parking.

2c.

By: Samantha Bacon

Samantha Bacon — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 21:01:12 +0000

I can agree and sympathise with much of what you have to say Brian but on one area I totally disagree and that is your comment about another Retail Park. This is the last thing Nairn needs situated in a housing development and is at odds with how a seaside community could or should develop. It is worth pointing out that the present business/retail park at Balmakeith has taken years to achieve the standard/level of occupancy and I have asked Deveron several times to give information on the type of businesses they envisage taking up occupation on this proposed site. I also asked Deveron’s architects what would happen if no-one showed an interest in taking up any of the sites on the business park, would this space perhaps be converted into more houses. They, of course, couldn’t possibly comment.

By: Des

Des — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 16:15:33 +0000

PS John – this really is a specialist subject worthy of its own blog?

By: Des

Des — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 16:11:17 +0000

There are regular Suburban Community Council meetings on this subject and they do a great job but there is a lot of concern outwith their area on this subject. It would be excellent if someone would organise a public meeting so we can get our act together as a town.
John, maybe you and some of the other folk up there that have been researching this might like to give a presentation to the public?

Nairnbairn; ‘ils ne passeront pas!’

By: Des

Des — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 16:11:17 +0000

Nairnbairn; ‘ils ne passeront pas!’